All hail the Spud Kings: Champions return to homecoming celebration

 

IDAHO FALLS — In a sea of red, yellow and white, the loyal subjects of the Spud Kingdom welcomed their Spud Kings back to town Thursday evening after winning the Dineen Championship.

Over 400 community members showed up outside of the Mountain America Center in a homecoming celebration and a proclamation marking May 1, Idaho Falls Spud King Day.

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Spud Kings’ general manager Eric Hudson, told EastIdahoNews.com that going from winning six games to losing four brought them down to earth toward the end of the regular season.

However, he credits the coaches and the players coming together and going 38-10-4 during the regular season. Then, going on to win the Dineen Championship for the first time.

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“It goes back to our first year, we wanted to be on a steady trajectory upwards. … We wanted to progress every single year,” Hudson said. “Last year, we made it to the semifinals of the mountain; we lost (to) the eventual champions.”

This year, he said, they faced one of the best teams in the first round. The Pueblo Bulls were the only team to boast a winning record against Idaho Falls this year.

“They gave us the hardest run for our money in the playoffs,” Hudson said. …”Huge kudos to Pueblo. They took us to five games.”

Head Coach Anthony Bohn, whose birthday was Thursday, said seeing the community out and in support of the team was unreal.

“This is something that I know I’ve never experienced, and I’m sure none of these guys have experienced,” he said. “So it’s incredible to be able to come home and see how much support we have.”

Echoing Hudson’s statements this year, Bohn told EastIdahoNews.com that there were some hurdles. But as a group, the team handled them and kept moving forward.

Looking ahead to next year, Bohn spoke about Idaho Falls’ approach in defending the Dineen Cup: “we’re attacking the next trophy.”

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“We’re looking forward to doing it in our building, and having people outside of Idaho Falls get to experience what the city and what the product is here,” Bohn said.

One player who will miss next year, Captain Liam Donovan, will be heading to college, but is grateful for the past year and a half being a Spud King.

“It just was a wild ride,” Donovan said. “The culture and the hockey culture around here and the support that the fans, it’s mind-boggling.”

The proclamation surprised Donovan, who said he wouldn’t have believed it if he had been told a year ago there’d be a day named after them.

“It’s awesome,” Donavan said.

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